The good example
- Introduction to VIB
Play, creativity and learning via a game and a wiki
In short
This example is relevant to all three entry points in
the Tool for Implementing The Underlying Principles of
Eduction (VIB), and it is based on experiences
from Claus Drejer, assistant professor at the Department of Environmental and Business Economics.
About wikis
A wiki is a shared online, editable
document/website. On Blackboard
you can create class- or group wikis.
For his Lecturer Training Programme e-learning project
Claus wanted to implement more active teaching and
learning by introducing learning through play and creativity. For this purpose he chose to apply a wiki, which
should activate and motivate the students and give
them more influence in the learning activities.
Pedagogical challenge: Motivating students to
collaborate on text production
Claus teaches the course Political Sociology, which is
a very abstract and theoretical course. The students
often find the course difficult, especially when it comes
to written work. To resolve this issue, Claus used his elearning project to make the course more tangible and
comprehensible by letting the students develop questions and answers for a board game through a wiki.
The process
The wiki in Blackboard was initially used to follow up
a discussion on how the board game should be constructed. Ideas for themes were actively discussed in
face to face lessons and on the wiki.
A wiki can:
• Pave the way for shared
construction of knowledge
• Create a space for exchanging
and negotiating views and
opinions
• Provide the students with the
opportunity to meet different
perspectives and nuances
Suggestions for activities with a wiki:
• Production of a knowledge base
on a topic
• Constructing a shared encyclopedia of the course’s conceptual
framework
• Process writing - from initial ideas
to the finished text
• Collaborative problem solving
• Case work
Next, groups of students were asked to upload questions and options to the wiki based on relevant theories.
Evaluation
Through play and creativity in the learning activities
Claus was able to implement the wiki and make it a
natural component of his teaching.
The students were rather sceptical in the beginning,
but as they got more confident in using the wiki tool
and less nervous of making mistakes, they thought it
was a fun and different way to learn.
Next time Claus runs the course, he plans to allocate
more time to developing the board game, because
he sees a great potential in including play, creativity
and learning through a board game and a wiki in the
teaching activities.
Contact
Pernille Stenkil Hansen
6550 1076
[email protected]
Centre for Teaching and Learning
Campusvej 55,
5230 Odense M
Entrance H by the SDU Swimming
Pool Directory
August 2015